Asian games developer and publisher CMUNE has made a significant announcement after revealing that it has raised “record” funding from Atomico, the international VC fund established by Skype founder Niklas Zennström.
Speaking at the GMIC event in China today, the 3D social games specialist did not disclose the level of funding, except to confirm that it is its highest level of investment yet.
The company told The Next Web that the money will be used to expand and grow its development team in Beijing, China. More specifically, the funding will help increase its global reach, using a local games/publisher approach, and bring its titles to more platforms, with iOS and Android the key focuses.
Kelly Poon, Atomico’s lead in China, said of the deal:
We’re delighted to be investing in a China-based company that targets a global market. CMUNE’s innovation in bringing 3D games to social platforms is remarkable, and it is already leading the way with UberStrike in the popular first person shooter genre. The company has done a brilliant job at overcoming both technical and design challenges to bring console-quality games to the web.
Ludovic Bodin, CEO of CMUNE, paid tribute to Zennström’s global experience and the benefits that his involvement will bring the game developer:
Niklas is one of the few modern tech entrepreneurs who has built a global company with success in both the East & West. Having co-founded Skype and previously made major investments in pioneering gaming companies such as Rovio, he understands freemium as a business model.
CMUNE was founded in Korea in 2007 but its design and development team is based in Beijing and its sales and commercial office is in San Francisco.
The funding will see it continue to develop its range of 3D social games, which includes its flagship title UberStrike, a Facebook-based game with 5 million registered users and 1 million monthly gamers.
CMUNE offers its titles outside of Facebook — including GameStop-owed Kongregate and the Mac App Store — and the company says it will launch for iOS and Android “soon.”
The deal to add titles to Kongregate was inked yesterday and company is currently hiring in Beijing, as it seeks to grow its development operations.
Atomico has more than 50 investments in tech companies across four continents worldwide, with Angry Birds maker Rovio its most notable firm. The firm recently turned its attention to Brazil, where it made its first investment in local startups there.
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